12 Video Games That Will Change How You See The World
7. The Last Of Us
Our adventure with Joel and Ellie is a masterpiece of human storytelling and character bonding. As the pair face evermore devastating scenarios - from battling super-zombies on a basketball court, to watching numerous friends go the way of Old Yeller - their bond subtly shifts from one dependent on the other, to co-dependence.
The classic formula of moody loner rediscovering love and purpose is beautifully told through the year spanned in the game, but it's the final chapter that gives the game its unique spin.
The reluctant hero, having reached safety and a cure for the spores…goes on a killing spree. When Joel learns that the only way to save mankind is to kill Ellie, he snaps. Everything he lost twenty years ago, he found in Ellie. His connection with her had seen him rekindle his soul out of the two-decade long pile of ash.
So he killed…like…everyone! What’s even more bizarre, is that we don’t really question it until later. Of course, we’re going to kill fifty of mankind’s bravest freedom fighters. Of course, we’re going to shoot the few doctors capable of saving mankind. They wanted to take Ellie from us.
They wanted to take our soul from us.
The true gut-wrenching moment is that final exchange that optimises the message; humans are more than ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Ellie looks into Joel’s eyes and asks for the truth. He lies, we know it, and so does she.